SYNOPSIS: The Sikorsky
HH53 Super Jolly Green Giant was the largest, fastest and most powerful heavy
lift helicopter in the US Air Force’s inventory. In 1967, a program
to develop a night rescue capability was initiated. By late 1970, that
program successfully installed night recovery systems aboard five HH53C Super
Jolly helicopters in Southeast Asia. These helicopters were used in
such vital operations as the US raid on the San Tay Prison Camp near Hanoi
in November 1970 and the assault mission to free the Mayaguez crew in Cambodia
in May 1975.

Following aerial refueling
over southern Thailand, the two Super Jolly’s rendezvoused with the rest of
the flight. Upon sighting the aircraft to be escorted, Lead radioed
“Tally Ho,” the signal acknowledging he had visual contact with the other
aircraft. When there was no response from Capt. Pannabecker’s helicopter,
Lead attempted to locate him visually. After completing a 180-degree
turn, Lead reported seeing a column of black smoke rising from the dense jungle
5 miles away. The location of the crash is 20 kilometers east of Siem
Pang, 7 kilometers northeast of Chan Tuy and 15 meters north of Kiribongsa
villages, Stoeng Treng Province, Cambodia. It was also 3 miles north
of the O Smang River, 11 miles east of the Tonle Kong River, 4 miles northeast
of Highway 194 and 78 miles southwest of the tri-border region where South
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia meet. Small hamlets and villages were scattered
throughout the area along with small clearings, rice fields and patches of
bamboo.

A search and rescue/recovery
(SAR) pararescue team from the Lead helicopter was lowered to the ground at
the crash site to check for survivors. During the over three hours the
team spent on the ground, they could not approach near enough to the burning
wreckage to determine if there were crew members trapped inside the aircraft
due to the intense heat. However, the team searched the surrounding
area and reported finding two partially deployed parachutes, but no trace
of the men who had used them, near the burning helicopter.

Later that afternoon, a second
rescue team was deployed in the immediate area of the crash. They reported
the fire was out and the aircraft had been completely destroyed. They
also reported no remains were visible. There were no further attempts
to locate or recover any crewmen from the downed Super Jolly Green due to
the presence of hostile forces who had moved into the area. At the
time the formal search effort was terminated, Richard Dreher, David Pannabecker,
Raymond Wagner, James Manor and Raymond Crow were all declared Killed in
Action/Body Not Recovered even though it was never determined if they all
actually died in the crash.

The Americans missing in Cambodia
pose a special problem. The US has never recognized the Cambodian government,
nor has it negotiated for the Americans who were captured, or otherwise unaccounted
for, in that country. It is generally believed by the US government
that any POWs who were held in Cambodia after the end of our country’s involvement
in Southeast Asia probably perished in the genocide committed by Pol Pot
in the mid 1970’s.

In 1988, the Cambodian government
announced it had the remains of a number of American servicemen it wished
to return to the United States. The US did not respond officially because
there is no diplomatic relations between our countries. Several US
Congressmen have tried to intervene in the deadlock in order to recover the
remains on behalf of the men’s families. Cambodia, however, prefers
to hold out for a government-to-government repatriation of the remains.

In December 1993, a US team
under the auspices of the Joint task Force for Full Accounting (JTFFA) investigated
and conducted a site survey of Jolly Green 23’s crash site. In addition
to snaps, zippers, lap belts, adjustment buckles, a pilot’s seat inflation
bag, a metal set of parachutist wings, and parachute “D” ring, they found
two data plates which are from the sleeve and spindle assembly of a HH53C
main rotor hub. Since no other HH53C was lost within a 160-kilometer
radius of this crash site, there is no doubt of its identity.

Several small bone fragments
were also recovered, with one appearing possibly to be human. Also during
this Joint Field Activity (JFA), a local villager turned over one tooth fragment
allegedly associated with a member of this aircrew to the survey team.
While the villager provided the tooth fragment, he provided no tangible information
about the fate of the person it came from. To date none of the bone
or tooth fragments have been identified as coming from any of the men aboard
the helicopter. Further, because of their size and condition, there
is no way to determine if human, are they American or Asian.

If all the men aboard Jolly
Green 23 died in the loss of their aircraft, each man has the right to have
his remains returned to his family, friends and country if at all humanly
possible. However, if they survived, their fate, like that of other
Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, could be quite different.
Above all else, each man has the right not to be forgotten by the nation
for which he gave his life.

Since the end of the Vietnam
War well over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise
unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these
reports document LIVE American Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout
Southeast Asia TODAY.

Pilots and aircrews were called
upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and they were prepared to be
wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that
they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.